Constructing a motorway (civil engineering project) Essay

Constructing a motorway (civil engineering project) - Essay Example This essay discusses that a motorway can be defined roughly as a main road or highway, with two or more lanes on opposite direction, and where fast motor traffic occurs. A motorway has to be well constructed with all the required plans, materials and skilful engineering needed to provide a long-lasting use for motorists. As the Junior Site Manager of a 30-mile motorway, my job is to provide the plan and the necessary activities to have a smooth flow of construction, maintenance and completing of this motorway. But before going on an analysis of the construction parameters, I deemed it necessary or compulsory on my part to study history and the great accomplishments of the engineers and architects who made the British Motorway System, on how it was visualised, planned, and made to action to provide the future generation with a quality highway for the vast land transportation that we have today. First, the planners used geographic and topographic maps. Although technology and computers were not yet very effective at that time, the information the planners had was enough to make them achieve their great objective. Present planners and engineers have all the information from computers and databases before they embark on such a gargantuan task. The vision that the planners had is mastery itself, considering that in the nineteenth century, motor vehicles were just beginning to be invented. Engineers and builders of motorways are faced with multiple and complicated tasks. In the initial steps, they are concerned particularly of the volumes of earth to be moved during embankments and cuttings. There is also the concern of the cost of moving those volumes of earth. Present engineers try to balance these two activities – the cut and fill. The aim is to avoid borrow or spoil, which adds costs to construction. Formation of cutting and embankments Cuts and embankments are needed in constructing a motorway or an elevated highway. In doing this, there are excavations a nd earthworks involved. Earth movement will involve a lot of activities in road construction. The first job of a builder of a motorway is to balance the cut and fill by calculating quantities to be moved. Calculating the volumes to be moved will involve measuring the horizontal and vertical sections using a planimeter, and in order to be accurate about this step, it has to be done at least three times. (Gallagher, 2004, p. 415) The principle in calculation is analogous to measuring the volume of a ship, which is measuring the displacement and tonnage. To do this means to measure the area of vertical cross section in successive lateral points. This technique of measurement was first introduced by Matthew Baker when he applied it in a cross section of a ship in 1586. The series of measurements were then compiled by George Parker Bidder in a paper titled â€Å"Table of Cutting and Embankments† on the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1836. (Gallagher, 2004, p. 415) An important factor to be considered in earth work or excavation is to determine the material a junior site engineer like me will be working with. I will have a lot of site investigation and analysis of the materials. A lot of information from our databases regarding the site, the materials and equipment that we will be using, will help a lot in the success of the motorway project. A common way of classifying the soil to determine its ease of excavation is known as the Ease of Digging scale. This is common in the United Kingdom. According to this theory, the soil is classified into four categories: E – for Easy digging, e.g. sands, fine gravels, etc. M – for Medium, example is cohesive soil like clay, gravel, etc. M-H – for Medium to Hard – refers to rock broken to pieces, heavy clay, gravel with boulders, etc. H – Hard refers to hard materials that require blasting. (Durham. Ac.uk.) Foundations Foundation engineering involves an analysis of the soil mechanics and judgment on the part of the engineer on the complex blend of the